I was rather hoping to have an updated version ready in time for the one-year anniversary, but if I put out an update it'll just be for minor bug fixes related to tiles and miscellaneous tweaks. I have one more story image from T-Squared that I'd like to add to the ending sequence as well. The memory issues, the Ghost attacking glitch, and occasional lag (it's probably related to the adlib sound code in some way, but it's incredibly difficult to pin down) are probably not going to be fixed for that build, but I might still bug lemm about it and see. It'd be nice to get rid of memory-related crashes and that lag, but those will be very tricky to fix.

Not sure when this update will be ready. Yes, I know it's already been a year , but at least The Alphamatic (AR mini-sequel) is getting close to completion. I'll probably give an update on that soon, but I'm thinking about a Keenday (3/14) release.

In the meantime, I thought I'd recommend a YouTuber named hairmonster who's currently doing a very entertaining playthrough of the game. He's doing a great job but getting criminally few views. Check it out:

I did watch the YouTube play through you mentioned. He does figure out how to solve the levels, but he missed most of the secret areas and I know he did not find all 24 hyper stars. Then again, since I playtested for you I already knew where all the secret areas were before the official release. You pretty much kept them all intact. I have beaten the game on all 3 skill levels. Twice each on easy and normal and once on hard. I am doing my second run through hard right now with 16 levels complete. However I have not been able to go any further because I am having issues with Dosbox 0.74.

You can walk between the trees to the right of the Kridonea Gateway, and out into this place. Just a tile placement error, it looks like.

Now here's a very strange one. Load up this savegame and just watch what happens. I recommend turning on God Mode as quick as you can.
The ghost somehow teleports into this place and shocks the moving platform, turning it into a shocked Axosis. It then behaves exactly as an Axosis, except it still seems to have all the properties of a moving platform. You can ride on it, and if you turn God Mode off while riding it won't kill you.
I suspect this is somehow related to the resurrecting Axosis glitch. This area is relatively near it, and it seems that once this crazy new glitch occurs, the ghost keeps returning to the former goplat to resurrect it instead and completely ignoring the original Axosis even after it gets up.

Also odd is the fact that I made this save a month ago and somehow didn't notice this anomaly. As a result I don't remember exactly what I was doing that may have caused it, and even after much experimentation around this part of the level I've been unable to recreate the glitch.
I do know I was messing around with cheats in a last-resorts attempt to find the 3UP in that level, the only one I couldn't find without cheating. (I suppose what must've happened was I just decided I was done experimenting with that particular place, saved, and immediately loaded my "real" savegame. So the very fact that I even have a save at this point is either dumb luck or divine intervention.)
So who knows if this can even happen while legitimately playing. At any rate, I hope you find this information useful.

Well, I've done it, minutes ago I finished Atroxian Realm, FINALLY, after a year and half and two computer crashes/loss of save files. And I can finally offer full congratulations, Gridlock! What a fantastic adventure.

Because it's taken so long, forgive me if I'm short on remembering everything upfront that's compliment worthy (so much of it is). What's sticking in my right now:

I don't know if I was just adapting to your level design style or if the environment or whatever was the reason, but I found the later levels in the city of Kridonea the most satisfying to play. That's not to say other levels were bad, but I found myself getting lost and frustrated less often the further I got into the game. That goes for the puzzles as well; I really started to appreciate the bridge and switch puzzles. Doubling back/retreading the same paths was almost never fun though

I loved the unique style of both the Kridonea Ruins. I felt they were a departure from both the rest of the levels in the game and, I felt, from the style of the original games altogether, and they were brilliant. Using them as a 'break' from the other levels, as well as the narrative flow they carried, was a fantastic choice and fit perfectly into the game and felt keenish even if nothing like them has really existed in Keen before.

Super congratulations on creating a legitimately hard, fun boss battle. I'll admit to being skeptical it could be pulled off in development. You succeeded, excellent work.

Speaking of Atroxus, the story sequences and meeting him throughout the game was very well done. Interactions with him were something I absolutely looked forward to while playing.

The corrupted Krile (Guard Drone?) is possibly one of the most frightening enemies in Keen not because it looks scary but because of how it moves (and fast!). Well done on that.

I'm a little scatter brained at the moment (as you can probably see), but I'd be happy to comment further if you'd like more specific reactions and impressions.

Great job!

Also congratulations Lemm for the technical development behind the mod. Without you we wouldn't get to see Gridlock's vision actualized. Thank you for your work!

Hey, I definitely appreciate the thought. Glad you could finally get through it (that stinks about the savegames though). Now that this already came out a year and a half ago (can't believe it's already been that long), it's been easier to look back on what worked and what didn't.

I do agree that backtracking in these levels could be a bit much. There are some cases where I think it's okay, like Security Layer where the path forward changes once you're forced back to the starting area. Granted, I do think that level is a bit too long. However, in other spots, especially after you get the green gem in Kridonea Gateway and have to retread ALL the way back to the green gemholder, it's just excessive. I'm hoping that people will find the levels in The Alphamatic more streamlined, if still challenging.

Lately I've been thinking a lot about the storytelling approach and how things might change moving forward. I think there's a discussion to be had about the role of text and dialogue in Keen games. Environmental storytelling was important in this game, but a lot of the major story moments were very text heavy, and I think this has been mixed for some people. The original Keen games had very little text and kept things short and simple. I'm honestly amazed how little content the Keen 5 help story has, and yet it conveys everything you need to know. My approach, for better or for worse, has increasingly been to try to tell more complex stories and further flesh out the characters and moments with longer dialogue sequences. I'll be curious to see what people think of this approach with Keen's friends in The Alphamatic, where tonally things aren't as dead serious.

Glad to hear you feel you're improving on your level design! I think indoor levels are particularly where your style shines and expect your Alphamatic levels to be exemplary.

I think there's a discussion to be had about the role of text and dialogue in Keen games. Environmental storytelling was important in this game, but a lot of the major story moments were very text heavy, and I think this has been mixed for some people. The original Keen games had very little text and kept things short and simple. I'm honestly amazed how little content the Keen 5 help story has, and yet it conveys everything you need to know. My approach, for better or for worse, has increasingly been to try to tell more complex stories and further flesh out the characters and moments with longer dialogue sequences.

I think Atroxian Realm might be the first, if not one of the first, to really explore that. And while I'd consider it a success, I know it's taught me some things in terms of how to approach it. Particularly: the importance of being brief, the importance of avoiding or keeping short any text/dialogue that's there only for the sake of formality (what the player expects the characters to say or talk about. Basically anything the player can predict will be said.), the importance of refraining from having Keen simply reacting to exposition but to actually be involved in it (this was a big one, in terms of the story, the player may play as Keen, but Keen really isn't a substitute for the player in the game; I want Keen to know things I don't, I want Keen to form conclusion I might not, etc, as long as he's not being obviously stupid or ignorant. Keen should be smarter, at least barely, than the player). Atroxian Realm did a lot of this right, at times wrong (I think), but ultimately was a good experience, for me.

Help, when you clicked the download link to "atroxian realm" I get that article does not already exist on the page or which has been changed to private, please anyone who can help me, i have a download link to work or something to be able to download atroxian realm!!

Help, when you clicked the download link to "atroxian realm" I get that article does not already exist on the page or which has been changed to private, please anyone who can help me, i have a download link to work or something to be able to download atroxian realm!!